Summer Band

 Jacob has just started learning the Trombone and so took part in the Summer Band Program offered at  FJH with Mr. and Mrs. Wolf as the teachers.  Farmington Jr. High is known throughout the state for their AWESOME bands and so it is a great opportunity for Jacob to do this.  He is sitting in the very back half hidden behind a stand. 

Mrs. Wolf directs one of the songs performed at the Summer Band Concert in August.  They didn't sound that great, but they were just learning so amazing job in only a few short weeks of practice!  I can't wait to see how Jacob improves throughout his jr. high years!

Rachael's Soccer Team 2011

September 2011

Rachael is sitting on the bottom row and the 4th girl from the left.  Omar was the coach and Rachael's friend, Tori Anderson was on her team this year which made it pretty fun for her.  Rachael is pretty good at Offense but didn't like Defense much.  She made a lot of progress this year and hopefully will keep improving for next season. 

Another School Year Begins...

 Qaiden starts 2nd Grade in Ms. Heather Hopkin's class.

Rachael with her friends start 5th grade with teachers Mrs. Brewer and Ms. Mendoza (she is in the Spanish Immersion Program).

Sonja Schurig Wedding

Jason and Sonja got married at the Red Butte Garden in Salt Lake City on July 9, 2011.  Her brother, Neil performed the ceremony and Sonja looked BEAUTIFUL!  It was a very pretty setting and the luncheon was very nice as well.  It was sure good to visit with the Schurig family and others and take part in the joining of my old Alaskan friend to her new husband.  CONGRATUATIONS Sonja!

Family Talent Night/Campfire

 The Cooleys performed a skit: A different Cinderella Story.  Shelley and Paul did an Irish dance imitation.  Cheryl's famly did a family pyramid and gymnastics routine, Jacob and Payton did jokes in between the acts.  Mom  and Charise recited a poem.  The kids danced and I can't remember the others, but they were little funny things.  It definately was NOT the usual talent night, but a fun show nontheless! 

Our last night we had a bonfire in the sand near the rental and roasted marshmellows for smores, sang songs around the campfire and played the guitar.  It was nice until the neighbor asked us to be quite even though it was only a little after 9 p.m. and the curfew was 10 p.m.  Well, he called the cops and the owners called to make sure we were not doing anything wild.  It did put a damper on the evening but the reunion was too fun to have changed what quality time we had already spent together.  Chantel did a great job organizing it all! 



Cape Meares

 Cape Meares Lighthouse

 Uncle Stevie with nephew, Ethan...he really wants kids but you gotta get a wife first Steve!

 Our Cooley clan overlooking the beautiful Oregon Coast

 Our family standing in front of the shortest lighthouse at the highest elevation.  We made it just in time to walk around the gift shop before it closed for the day.  It was very small but so cute!

Jacob and Shauna in front of the Octopus Tree just east of the Cape Meares Lighthouse

Clamming on the Coast

Those family members that wanted to go clamming had to get liscences the day before at the grocery store and you were allowed 20 clams per liscence.   

 We woke up early that day grabbed a Breakfast On The Go packet of granola, nuts and fruit, and took off for the shore.  Mom didn't really want to clam so she stayed home with the 7 little ones (Logan, Shelby, Aleah, Taylor, Norah, Luke, and Ethan.  We had to walk quite a ways because the tide was way out there.  It was fun digging with shovels and with your hands to find those big clams and they were so dang fast at digging down deep!  So, whenever we would find the little air bubbles on the top of the wet sand, someone with a shovel was right there and the digger on his hands and knees would dig really fast to catch those spitting suckers.  Richard and I got 20 each and all the others combined with ours totaled about 150 clams!  Some of the others (not in the above photo) found 2 crab on the rocks near shore, so we took those home with the clams to cook up.

My sister, Cheryl and daughter, Ashlynn showing off their clam!

My pregnant sister, Chantel ready to help clam.

 Jacob shows his clam variety. 

Cheryl's claming clothes sure are spiffy!

Munson Creek Falls Hike

 The start of the trail to the falls.

 supposedly poisonous SERPENT (lizard)!  It was barely alive.

July 2011 we took a drive up to the start of the hiking trail to the scenic Munson Creek Falls.  It was a little dizzly and overcast, but a nice short hike for the kids and we even saw a little lizard along the trail.  Chantel told us it looked like the poisonous one she heard about earlier, but that was AFTER I had already touched it!  I washed my hands REALLY well when I got back and hoped I wouldn't die! ;)  I'm still alive so apparently it was NOT poisonous after all!

Nebeker Family Reunion, Oceanside, OREGON

 Aleah, Qaiden, Jacob, Payton, Luke bending over infront of our beachview rental. 

Chantel was in charge of organizing this years family reunion (June 30-July 3, 2011) and because she lives in Hillsboro, Oregon, (near Portland) we had it there on the coast in Oceanside, Oregon!  This was the view from the home we rented.  It sure was a fun time...

Shrine Tree House Park

 The boys with the BIG bear!

 Rachael & Aleah being silly.

 All the family finds an opening to stick their head out!  It sure would be squishy if we called this our home away from home...but it sure was a fun little tree play house!

 Luke

 The girls with their little bear cubs!

Inside the tree house they had a library of books and even a kitchen carved out...

Redwood Forest Trip

JUNE 26, 2011

 Our car wouldn't fit throught the Shrine Drive-Through Tree with the Yakima Bag on top, so we had to back up and just walk through!

 Cooley Clan in front of the Shrine Tree in the heart of the Redwood Forest!

 The kids had so much fun to running around the cool trees.  This was a fun Walk-Through Stump...pretty huge huh?!

This tree looked a little like a Cathedral so they called it the Shrine Cathedral Tree.  The kids were amazed at how HUGE these GIANT REDWOODS were!

6th Grade Graduation

 Jacob watches some of his classmates planting their tree along the East side of the school's playground(a graduating class tradition)

 Eagle Bay Elementary School's 2011 graduating class singing!



Jacob, Taylor Soffe, Tyler Crowther

Jacob graduated June 2011 from 6th grade and will be attending Farmington Jr. High this fall!  It's amazing how time flies!  I just remember him as a little chubby boy in overalls.  I am so proud of Jacob for all the things he has done in his short 11 years and how smart he is becoming.  He will be in all honors classes this fall...Algebra, Honors English, Honors Science.  I hope he handles the load well...I'm sure he'll be fine though. 

Extended Nebeker Family Reunion

Aleah Reese Cooley sits behind Ann's headstone

JUNE:  My Uncle, John Havens Nebeker planned the extended family reunion.  We were able to see the old homestead of the Nebekers soon after they entered the Great Salt Lake Valley in the late 1840's early 1850's.  We visited the grave site of Ann Van Wagoner Nebeker and some of her children at the Cemetary in Payson, Utah.  It was nice to learn more about her and Henry Nebeker who left with the younger second wife to settle another community.  He did leave the home for her and her children...including her son, William Henry Nebeker who's birth father was actually John Havens. 

Some of the other Nebeker relatives view the grave stones.  I love family history but wish I had more time to do the research aspect of it.  When the kids have left the nest, I intend to do a lot more family history work!

Shauna comes to visit Utah!

 We all missed Shauna's birthday, so we gave her a little birthday cake with homemade blueberry ice cream...complete with a balloon, book and some nutter butters to eat as she travels to the East Coast.

Shauna with her neices and nephews!

My sister, Shauna comes to visit our home in Farmington, Utah and we gather for lunch with homemade tostatas!  It was nice to spend some time together as she drove from Alaska and made her way to the Carolinas to live.

Mother's Day 2011

This picture was supposed to be taken on Easter Sunday wearing all new outfits, but I forgot and the Sunday after some of us were sick.  So, we had everyone wear their Easter clothes today for Grandma to see!  It was a nice Mother's Day...Rich made me French Toast with blueberries and strawberries on top and bacon on the side.  For dinner, he made breaded steak, mashed potatoes with mashed rutabagas mixed together with a little bacon fat from the morning and some milk and butter...YUMMMMMM! and some steamed green beans!  Thank you children for all the homemade cards and flowers made from your handprint that you made at school the past week...so nice!  I LOVE my family so much!  Life wouldn't be the same without each one of them!  

EASTER A.M.

I forgot to take a picture of all of us with our new Easter clothes we wore at church today, so I will have everyone wear the same church clothes this Sunday and post that picture next week.  SORRY mom...I know how much you like those photos!

Rachael's Piano Recital

Monday, April 18th 2011 was Rachael's Spring Piano Recital in which she played, "Dreamglide" and another piece that I can't remember.  She is now in Level 2 and hope she will continue to improve.  She hates practicing like I did, but I think she may get a lot better if she can find music she LOVES like the "Love Story" song on the movie, Letters to Juliet.  This is her favorite song and just came home yesterday with that to start practicing...I didn't even have to ask her to practice when she got up this morning...WOW...the power of music (music that you like that is)!

Q's 7th B-DAY...

Q wanted donuts so the night before dad took them to get 6 free glazed donuts each (when you take your report card with you) and then they stopped off at Bowman's Grocery Store in Kaysville because after 7 p.m. they are half off. They got the HUGEST donuts I've every seen and only spent $4.00! We don't do donuts anymore except on those special days if they so choose.  Well, it was such a yucky COLD week of the kids' SPRING BREAK, but on Q's birthday, Wedesday, April 6th, the sun was out for the first part of the day, so we decided to go on a picnic and let the kids play at the park the whole afternoon!  I was SOOO cold but the sun was out and I actually got a BURN on my face!  We met the neighbors at the park in Bountiful (near the Rec. Center) and then moved to the kids' favorite Castle Heights Park in Kaysville.  We did mexican for dinner because that's his favorite!  He usually doesn't want a cake so I was going to do a fruit tart, but he wanted a chocolate cake.  I decided to try a new recipe that my sister, Cheryl gave me called, Chocolate Coffee Cake but instead of coffee, I used Pero and it turned out pretty good.  I used whole grain flour, organic whole cane sugar and put raw cocoa nibs in the batter.  I whipped my own cream and made a healthier chocolate frosting that turned out REALLY good!  I HATE frosting but this turned out just perfect!  I will probably make this again with my alterations!  Qaiden got 2 Star Wars lego sets, a nice baseball bat (he just started playing this spring) and a baseball.  He had a good time building his legos after dessert!  HAPPY 7th BIRTHDAY QAIDEN JOHN COOLEY!

Our NEW Kitchen

The 3 colors of the kitchen are Behr paints: Retro Avocado, Cherry Tart, and Falling Snow



Here are a couple of pictures of our NEWLY PAINTED KITCHEN!  All this week has been SO busy with buying the curtains, rod, hooks, paint stuff, on Monday.  Tuesday was prep day.  Wednesday, March 16 was spent painting ALL DAY!  Luckily my sister, Shelley was able to help me most of the day- about 7 hours worth.  After she left, I ate a little bit of pizza (because I didn't have time to cook anything) and went back to painting.  I didn't get to bed until after midnight!  Once I start a project, I want to HURRY and get it done and I did that.  Thursday was spent putting up the rod, curtains, hooks and the other stuff.  It sure brings a little bit of flavor to our kitchen and dining room don't you think?  I LOVE IT!  If you don't like it, just keep it to yourself!  :)

Jacob's Lego Car

Can I just say that my oldest son, Jacob is one of the most self-motivating kids I know!  I think this is such a gift and if the world had more kids like him, it would be a MUCH better place!  He was reading in his LEGO Club magazine one day, and Jacob saw an article talking about an upcoming competition where you can enter the BUILD YOUR OWN LEGO CAR.  He did this on his own without any knowledge of it except when he was almost finished.  So here is a picture that I took and then we printed a picture out and sent it in a little while ago.  He probably won't win anything, but he wanted to create his own masterpiece and he did it with such enthusiasm!  We'll update this post IF he wins anything.  Just know that it's not important to us if he wins anything...we have the BEST prize already, and that is a special boy that we are glad to call our son!